Why The Women in The Game of Thrones and Avengers: Endgame Matter To This Mom

It’s been a weekend of women warriors on the screen and this mom has gotta talk about it. Let’s hear it for the women of The Game of Thrones and Avengers: Endgame- and why it’s important for me as a mom to see them save the day. And there are spoilers for both the movie and show in here, so if that’s not your jam, go ahead and exit now because I don’t want to get hate emails.

Please note: I did not say strong women. I said women. Full Stop.

Because I believe all women are strong and possess all manners of strength. To add that tag in front of one who happens to save the day just seems pointless – and it’s a minor pet peeve of mine.

We’re all strong. Let’s just stop worrying about pointing out the obvious!

We don’t need to say one sex is bad to say another is good. So that’s NOT what I’m doing here.

Got that? I’m not elevating women at the harm of men.

In life and in entertainment, it doesn’t need to be an either/or situation. We can celebrate and love errrybody– and we should. Except for Thanos because he’s pretty awful and I know we can all get on board with that assessment.

Mom Talk: It’s Important To See Women Heroes

BUT… and there’s always that but… it needs to be said that women, especially in the entertainment industry, have often been put on the back burner or relegated to the roles that require saving. If you don’t believe that or understand that, then you haven’t been paying attention.

As a woman- as a mom of girls and boys– I absolutely love that more movies and TV shows are making the choice to put women in the role of hero.

Frankly, I’m super confused as to why this could be a bad thing for anyone.

How on earth is showing women controlling their own destinies and saving the day a bad thing?

This shows my daughters that, yes, they CAN do/be/express themselves however they want. Girl Power is a real thing, y’all, and I love that my girls are growing up in a time where they see this more and more in their entertainment.

This shows my sons that the women in their lives can be equal friends and partners, not weak and not ones that need saving or helping or rescuing. And this is a good thing for them.

One of my greatest hopes for my children is that they actually end up with a partner who wants them for who they are- vs someone who “needs” them in an unhealthy way.

Don’t bring me any needy daughters-in-laws or sons-in-law, kids.

If these kids see that women can indeed take care of all kinds of business then we’re in for a world where there are no limits. And I need this generation to be strong, wise, and powerful because they are going to take care of my old butt in the not-so-distant future. Ahem.

The Women of The Game of Thrones: All Hail Arya, Lyanna, Brienne of Tarth, Sansa, Dany and, Yes, Cersei

I know I’m leaving a ton out because there have been 7 1/2 long seasons spanning 10 years of my life. And I’m getting old- as noted above.

But DANG these women have come to play in The Game of Thrones. There’s not a Mary Sue among them (so you can just stop that nonsense right there).

No one is perfect, they are all super flawed, and they all have been through some -ish, y’all. Yet it’s impossible for me to pick one apart as unworthy of some respect.

I may not love them all, but dang it, I certainly respect them.

And the past two episodes of Game of Thrones have been – just- wow. Here’s your spoiler alert in case you didn’t heed that warning before.

.

.

.

.

LYANNA MORMONT AND ARYA STARK – HECK YEAH!

Lyanna is a Giant Slayer and Arya a King Slayer and I was completely here for this. They took control of their own destinies, they took matters into their own hands, and they freaking WON- even though Lyanna ended up on the list of characters who died in the Battle of Winterfell.

Could the same scenes have taken place with male characters? Sure. And I think that’s why both scenes were important: the writers made the decision to use women in these scenes. Bless it. And thank you.

We need more of this- more recognition that entertainment can mirror real life. That women can do what men can do and they can, in fact, save the world if we stop telling them they can’t.

As my friends know- I’ve never liked Pepper Potts. Like, I cringe every time she’s on screen and pretty much hate her story arc.

But this movie? This movie I give the hero of the universe award to Pepper because she finally got Tony. She understood what he needed to do and allowed him to do it- and her knowing her partner that well was something I was aching to see.

We needed Tony to do Tony things, but he wasn’t going to get there until Pepper got on board.

Sounds a lot like life, no? I think many of us can understand that complex relationship in our own lives.

But it was the scene that I didn’t even realize I needed to see that I love the absolute most in this movie.

There’s a moment when Captain Marvel takes the Infinity Gauntlet from Peter Parker and he says it’s going to be impossible for her to get through. But he’s wrong.

All these women come together to say, “She’s not alone”and off they go into battle. It’s a quick scene but one that had people on their feet in the Avengers: Endgame premiere. And yes, there’s a similar scene in Avengers: Infinity War– and there’s no mistake that the words used were the same.

I’ll start sending in checks to Marvel now if we get an entire female-led movie possibly based on the A-Force comics. CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE THAT?!

So to sum up: I love men, I love women, I love that heroes can come in all kinds of packages, and I love that my kids are growing up with this kind of representation on screen happening. Thank you, writers, for creating the women of The Game of Thrones and Avengers: Endgame for my kids.

More Movies Posts You'll Love

If you love the movies, then you'll love this list of movies you need to see! Lists of movies and the best order to watch them in.

Patty Holliday

If she isn’t chasing her four kids around Northern Virginia, Patty is chasing four bars on her phone to share her authentic and fun stories on social media and her blog, My No-Guilt Life. She’s also one half of the Marvel Moms, an online community for discussing the Marvel fandom. You can catch up on her runDisney fun at No-Guilt Disney.